Belt control for picking tables



A. R. STEPHEN.

BELT CONTROL FOR PICKING TABLES.

APPLICATION FILED 05c, 20,.I92I.

1 ,%3(),Q37 PatentedSept. 26, 1922.

INVENTOR. fl lxhzllzald R .Stephen ATTORNEY Patented Sept, 2%,

ARCHIBALD R. STEPHEN, OE LODI, CALIFORNIA.

BELT CONTROL FOR PZCKING TABLES.

Application filed December 20, 1821. SeriaLNo. 523,702.

To (ZZZ co /tom it may concern:

Be it known that I, enciinaario R. STE- PHIGN, a citizen of the United States, residing'at Lodi, county of San Joaquin, State of tialifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Belt Controls for Picking Tables; and I do declare the following to be afuli, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the which form a partof this application. 7

This invention relates to improvementsin hand picking tables such as are used in picking over and sorting nuts, beans and similar produce, and relates particularly withthat type of picking table shownin my United States Patent No. l, il-f,598,dated May 2, 1922, in which the table portion is formed of a movable belt, whose movement is controlled by the operator or picke with the aid of a foot lever, the advantages of which are set forth in the above patent.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved means for controlling the movement of'the belt,

and at the same time allowing for the automatic taking up of the unavoidable shrinking and stretching of the belt, the length of which is apt to vary considerably in the course of a day, depending on the relative humidity of the atmosphere at different times, and especiallycwith the light flexible type of belt necessarily used. 1

A further object is to provide means whereby the uneven stretching or tightening of the belt on either side may be readilytaken care of without removing orhandling the belt itself in; any way.

till another objectis to provide means whereby the amount or distance through which the foot lever itself must be moved to give a certain amount of slackness to the belt, and to also permit of the vertical position of the foot-pad of the. lever being altered without disturbing the position and settingof the belt. By this means the foot levermay be adjusted to suit the convenience of different-persons, to insure efficient" operation in all cases.

A fourth object is to allow for altering the normal tension of the belt, to suit different conditions of operation.

-I have found from experience that considerable difficulty is had in getting a thin and even distribution of the produce on the belt, as it' comes from the hopper, especially with small material, such as seeds, which tend to pack behind the control gate of the hopper, and then discharge in irregular quantities. I I

Ihave therefore devised, as another object of this invention, a means for preventing this packing of the produce, and insigned.

These objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.

' In the drawings similar characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the several views. j

Fig. l is an end view, partly in section, of a picking table unit. A e

2 is an enlarged fragmentary section of the foot control means, taken on the line 22 of Fig. l. I I

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragment of the belt, viewed from the side 1 edge.

Fig. iis van enlarged fragmentaryview of an adjustable link or connecting rod con-, struction. l i I Referringnow more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawings, the numeral 1 denotesv a standard, supported from the floor, fixed to and projecting horizontally' on bothsides of which are spaced frames 2, between each pair of which is an endless picking-belt 3, passing atone end over afixedrollera, driven by any suitable means over a movable idler roller 5 at the other end; c

A common hopper 6 is preferably provided over both belts from which hopper an individual chute 7 leads to each belt, and

terminates adjacent the surface thereof, the

device, as the belt moves away from the chute and its gate, a thin layer of nuts or the like is drawn onto the belt from between the belt and gate, the latter giving somewhat to allow the produce to emerge.

As previously stated however, there is a tendency for small sized produce to pack behind the ate and the action of the cleats on the belt is to strike and break away such pack before it has really assumed the proportions of such. In other words the cleats prevent the formation of-a pack, and insure an even and steady flow of the produce onto the belt.

At the same time, the size of these cleats is not sufiicient to interfere with the operations of the picker at the table.

I will now describe the foot. control and automatic belt take-up means. This structure being independent for ear-h belt, it will of course be only necessary to describe one unit.

Slidably mounted on the outsideof the frames 2 are plates 10. Near the outer ends of the frames are slots 11, substantially. the height of the plates, into which project bearing members 12 fixed onto the plates, and in which the roller 5 is journaled, the slots being sufficiently longer than the bearing to allow for a certain and predetermined longitudnal movement of the bearings and plates.

Extending transversely of the frames thereunder is a shaft 13, Jreferably beyond the plates, to which latter are flexibly connected links 14:, which pass through the shaft 13 and are provided with adjusting nuts 15 on both sides of the shaft.

Rigid links 16 are flexibly connected to the shaft and to the frames 2 extending in a direction opposite to that of the links 14;. By meansof this construction, the actual, operative length of the links 14 may be varied independently of each other, which causes the adjacent plate and end of the roller :3 to be moved accordingly, counteracting any looseness of the belt on one side or the other.

Flexibly connected to the shaft 13 and projecting vertically on both sides of the frames 2 are rods 17 passing through fixed guide brackets 18, said rods having springs 19 thereon hearing at their lower ends on the brackets, and whose tension is adjustable by means of adjusting nuts 20 on the rods above the springs. It will thus be, evident that the action of these springs is to force the plates outwardly and to thus tighten the belt, the degree of tautness of which depends on the tension of the springs, which is governed bymanipulation of the nuts 20. These springs then automatically take care of the natural stretching or shrinking of the belt, and besides govern the amount o. pressure necessary to draw the plates back and release the belt from the driving-friction witlh the roller 4, the amount of such pressure and normal belt tension desired or necessary depending on the kind of produce being picked.

The plates are drawn back by pulling down on the shaft 13 which is accomplished by means of a bracket 21 flexibly hung on said shaft intermediate its ends, to which bracket is mounted, for vertical adjustment by means of a nut 22, the upper end of a rod 22, .the lower end of which is pivoted to a horizontally disposed foot lever 23 having on one end a foot pad 24 and on the upper edge of the other end a plurality of V,- shaped notches 25, any one of which is engaged by a knife-edge bearing 26 formed on a plate 27, which is also provided with rigid catch member 28 adapted to hold the lever against upward movement after the latter is depressed and shifted slightly to one side with the foot. I

By reason of the notches and knife=edge bearing construction, a simple means is had whereby the operative length of the lever, from the fulcrum point to the foot-pad end, may be easily and quickly varied to suit the convenience of different operators; since it will be evident that as the fulcrum is moved nearer the connection with the rod 22, a greater movement of the foot pad end of the lever must be had for a certain downward movement of the rod than if the fillcrum point was moved further from, the rod connection. It will also be noted that the. springs 19 constantly act .to hold themembers 25 and 26 in contact. l

The-connection of the members 14, 16, 17; nd 21 with the shaft13 are all such asto allow for a certain amount of mpyement. of the shaft away from a true horizontal trans: verse plane, so as to allow for the taking up of one of the links 14 or springs 20 more than the other, for the purpose as pre,- viously setforth, andwhich of course will have the effect of placing the shaft out of plumb.

By adjusting the nut 22 the padend of the lever 23 may be raised or lowered, thus allowing for the operating end of this lever being positioned at different levels to suit different operators, and independent of; any, change made in the point of fulcrum of the lever, which has the effect of changing the level of the pad somewhat.

From the foregoing description it will; be readily seen that I have produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects. of the invention as set forth herein While this specification sets forth in detail the. present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

parallel to the length of the belt, and foot actuated means for moving the last named roller.

2. A picking table structure comprising an endless belt, a driven roller at one end of the belt over which the latter passes, another roller at the other end of the'belt slidably mounted for movement in a plane parallel to the length ofthe belt, foot actuated means for moving the last named roller, and means for automatically taking care of any stretch or shrinkage of the belt.

3. A picking table structure comprising an endless belt, a driven roller at one end of the belt over which the latter passes, another roller at the other end of the belt slidably mounted formovement in a plane parallel to the length of thebelt, foot actuated -means for moving the last named roller and adjustment means for taking care of any unevenness of stretch or shrinkage of the belt at one edge or the other without interfering with the operation of the movement control means.

4:. A picking table structure comprising an endless belt, a driven roller at one'end of the belt over which thelatter passes, another roller at the other end of the belt slidably mounted for movement in a plane parallel to the length of the belt, foot actuated means operatively connected to the last named roller at each end for moving the same, and independent means interposed in each such roller, connecting means for taking care of any unevenness in the stretch or shrinkage of the belt at one edge or the other. 7

5. A picking table structure comprising an endless belt, a driven roller at one end of the belt over which the latter passes, another roller at the other end of the belt slidablymounted for movement in a plane parallel to the length of the belt, a transverse shaft under the belt, links flexibly connected to the shaft and operatively connected to the last named roller at each end thereof, other links similarly connected to the shaft and pivoted at fixed points at their outer ends, said last named links extending in a direction substantiallyopposite to the first named links, means for altering the operative length of one pair of said links individually, and means for moving the shaft vertically.

6. A picking table structure comprising an endless belt, a driven roller at one end of the belt over which the latter passes,

another roller at the other end of the belt slidably mounted for movement in a plane parallel. to the length of the belt, a transverse shaft under the belt, links flexibly connected to the shaft and operatively connected to the last named roller atcach end thereof, other links similarly connected to the shaft and pivoted at fixed points at their outer ends, said last named links extending in a direction substantially opposite to the first named links, rods connected to the.

shaft and projecting intermediate the link members, spring means on the rods acting roller at each end thereof, other links sim ilarly connected to the shaft and pivoted at fixed points at their outer ends, said last named links extending in a direction sul stantially opposite to the first named links, rods connected to the shaft and projecting intermediate the link members, individually adjustable spring means on the rods, said spring means tending to raise the shaft and force the slidably mounted roller away from the fixed roller, and means for drawing the shaft down against the tension of the springs.

8. A picking table structure comprising an endless belt, a driven roller at one end of the belt over which the latter passes, another roller at the other end of the belt slidably mounted for movement in a plane parallel to the length of the belt, a transverse shaft under the belt, links flexibly connected to the shaft and operatively connected to the last named roller at each end thereof, other links similarly connected to the shaft and pivoted at fixed points at their outer ends, said last named links extending in a direction substantially opposite to the first named links, means for altering the operative length of one pair of said links individually, and individually adjustable and independent spring means acting on each end of the slidably mounted roller to force the same away from the fixed roller.

9. In a belt control device, an endless belt, a fixed roller and a movable roller over which the belt passes, a vertical rod, means between the rod and movable roller whereby the latter will be moved horizontally with a vertical movement of the rod, and means for so moving the rod.

10. In a belt control device, an endless belt, a fixed roller and a movable roller over which the belt passes, a vertical rod, means between the rod and movable roller whereby the latter will be moved horizontally with a vertical movement of the rod, a substantially horizontal foot lever to which the rod is connected, and a fixed member on which the lever is fulcrumed the point of fulcrum with respect to the rod connect-ion with the lever being alterable at will.

11. In a belt control device, an endless belt, a fixed roller and a movable roller over which the belt passes, a vertical rod, means between the rod and movable roller whereby the latter will be moved horizontally with a vertical movement of the rod, a substantially horizontal foot lever to which the rod is connected, said lever having a plurality of notches in the upper edge of the lever, and a fiXed knife-edge bearing member adapted to engage any one at a time of said notches whereby to form a fulcrum for the lever.

12. In a belt control device, an endless belt, a fixed roller and a movable roller over which the belt passes, a vertical rod, means between the rod and movable roller whereby the latter will be moved horizontally with avertical movement of the rod, a substantially horizontal foot lever to which the rod is connected, said lever having a plurality of notches in the upper edge of the lever, a fixed knife-edge bearing member adapted to engage any one at a time of said notches, and spring means acting to constantly hold said bearing and the respective notch in contact. i w

13. In a belt control device, an'endless belt, a fixed roller and amovable roller over which the belt passes, a vertical rod, means between the rod and movable roller whereby the latter will be moved horizontally with a vertical movement of the rod, a substantially horizontal foot lever to which the rod is connected intermediate the fulcrum and foot-pad end of the lever, and adjusting means for altering the operative length of the rod, whereby the vertically level of the foot-pad end of the lever may be altered. i

la. In a belt control device, an endless belt, a fixed roller and a movable roller ,over which the belt passes, a vertical rod, means between the rod and movable roller whereby the latter will be moved horizontally with a vertical movement of the rod, a substan tially horizontal foot lever to which the rod is connected, intermediate the fulcrum and foot-pad end of the lever, means whereby the point of fulcrum of the leverivith respect to'the point of connection of the rod tl 1erewith may be altered, and independent adjusting means for altering the operative length of the rod, whereby the level of the foot pad end of the lever may be altered or maintained regardless of alteration of the fulcrum point of the lever. '4

In testimony whereof I atfix my signature.

,ARCHIBALD B- STEPHEN- 

